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These People Were The Real Power Behind The Throne

Khalid Elhassan July 13, 2023 32 min

A terrified Claudius pleads for mercy, as the Praetorians prepare to enthrone him. Imgur

The Man Who Made and Unmade Emperors

Majorian’s campaigns almost reunited the Western Roman Empire. Wikimedia

Ricimer discovered that Majorian was an unsuitable puppet: he proved himself a capable ruler and military commander. Majorian subdued the Visigoths in Gaul, and brought the province back under imperial control. He then marched against the Vandals in Hispanis, and left Ricimer behind in Italy.

The Vandals defeated Marjorian, however, and while he was gone, Ricimer convinced the Senate to depose him. When Majorian returned to Italy, Ricimer had him arrested, tortured, and executed. In his place, Ricimer appointed Libius Severus as Western emperor in 461. He ruled through Severus until the latter’s death in 465, after which the Western Roman throne remained vacant for two years.

Power - A bronze coin with Ricimer's monogram — A bronze coin with Ricimer’s monogram. Medievalists

Ricimer finally acquiesced to the Eastern Emperor Leo I’s appointment of Anthemius as Western emperor. In exchange, Ricimer married Anthemius’ daughter. However, after Anthemius led a major expedition against the Vandals to catastrophic defeat, Ricimer turned on his father in law, and besieged him in Rome.

When the city fell, Anthemius tried to flee, disguised as a beggar. It did not work, and he was caught and beheaded in 472. Ricimer then replaced him with Olybrius, an envoy sent by the Eastern emperor to try and mediate between Ricimer and Anthemius. Ricimer did not enjoy his new puppet for long however, and died only six weeks later from a hemorrhage.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.